The history of thermodynamics is a fundamental strand in the history of physics, the history of chemistry, and the history of science in general. Owing to the relevance of thermodynamics in much of science and technology, its history is finely woven with the developments of classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, magnetism, and chemical kinetics, to more distant applied fields such as meteorology, information theory, and biology (physiology), and to technological developments such as the steam engine, internal combustion engine, cryogenics and electricity generation. The development of thermodynamics both drove and has been driven by atomic theory. It also, albeit in a subtle manner, motivated new directions in probability and statistics; see, for example, the timeline of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and random processes. Image File history File links Savery-engine. ... Image File history File links Savery-engine. ... An engine in the broadest sense, is something that produces an output effect from a given input. ... Thomas Savery (c. ... Denis Papin Denis Papin (22 August 1647 - c. ... Since antiquity, human beings have sought to understand the workings of nature: why unsupported objects drop to the ground, why different materials have different properties, the character of the universe such as the form of the Earth and the behavior of celestial objects such as the Sun and the Moon... Portrait of Monsieur Lavoisier and his Wife, by Jacques-Louis David The history of chemistry may be said to begin with the distinction of chemistry from alchemy by Robert Boyle in his work The Sceptical Chymist (1661). ... Science is a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world, produced by a global community of researchers making use of a body of techniques known as scientific methods, emphasizing the observation, experimentation and scientific explanation of real world phenomena. ... Thermodynamics (from the Greek Î¸ÎµÏÎ¼Î·, therme, meaning heat and Î´Ï Î½Î±Î¼Î¹Ï, dunamis, meaning power) is a branch of physics that studies the effects of changes in temperature, pressure, and volume on physical systems at the macroscopic scale by analyzing the collective motion of their particles using statistics. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... Classical mechanics is used for describing the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, as well as astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. ... Fig. ... Magnetic lines of force of a bar magnet shown by iron filings on paper In physics, magnetism is one of the phenomena by which materials exert attractive or repulsive forces on other materials. ... In physical chemistry, chemical kinetics or reaction kinetics study reaction rates in a chemical reaction. ... Satellite image of Hurricane Hugo with a polar low visible at the top of the image. ... A bundle of optical fiber. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cryogenics is a branch of physics (or engineering) that studies the production of very low temperatures (below â150 Â°C, â238 Â°F or 123 K) and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. ... Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. ... In chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a theory of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, as opposed to obsolete beliefs that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity. ... Probability is the likelihood that something is the case or will happen. ... A graph of a normal bell curve showing statistics used in educational assessment and comparing various grading methods. ... A timeline of events related to thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and random processes. ...

Short history

The short history of thermodynamics, with focus on the essential stepping stones that inherently functioned to stimulate modern thermodynamics, began with the arguments of the 5th century Greek philosopher Parmenides. In his only known work, a poem conventionally titled 'On Nature', Parmenides uses verbal reasoning to postulate that a void, essentially what is now known as a vacuum, in nature could not occur. This statement was disproved conclusively, approximately two-thousand years later, when Otto von Guericke built a vacuum pump, which was used to affix together his famous “Magdeburg Hemispheres” that he so proudly displayed around Europe in the mid 17th century. Soon thereafter, stimulated into conception by von Guericke’s vacuum pump design, the steam engine was built. The rest is thermodynamic history: Parmenides of Elea (Greek: , early 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Hellenic city on the southern coast of Italy. ... Look up Void in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Void can refer to: Aether as the source of all elements, the quintessence. ... Look up Vacuum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Otto von Guericke Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke) [] (November 20, 1602 â May 11, 1686 (Julian calendar); November 30, 1602 â May 21, 1686 (Gregorian calendar)) was a German scientist, inventor, and politician. ... The Roots blower is one example of a vacuum pump A vacuum pump is a pump that removes gas molecules from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. ... Gaspar Schotts sketch of Otto von Guerickes Magdeburg hemispheres experiment. ... // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ...

In c.485 BC, Parmenides makes the ontological argument against nothingness, essentially denying the possible existence of a void.

In c.460 BC, Leucippus, in opposition to Parmenides' denial of the void, proposes the atomic theory, which supposes that everything in the universe is either atoms or voids; a theory which, according to Aristotle, was stimulated into conception so to purposely contradict Parmenides' argument.

In c.350 BC, Aristotle proclaims, in opposition to Leucippus, the dictum horror vacui or “nature abhors a vacuum”. Aristotle reasoned that in a complete vacuum, infinite speed would be possible because motion would encounter no resistance. Since he did not accept the possibility of infinite speed, he decided that a vacuum was equally impossible.

In 1643, Galileo Galilei, while generally accepting the horror vacui of Aristotle, believes that nature’s vacuum-abhorrence is limited. Pumps operating in mines had already proven that nature would only fill a vacuum with water up to a height of 30 feet. Knowing this curious fact, Galileo encourages his former pupil Evangelista Torricelli to investigate these supposed limitations. Torricelli did not believe that vacuum-abhorrence was responsible for raising the water. Rather, he reasoned, it was the result of the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding air. To prove this theory, he filled a glass tube, sealed at one end, filled with mercury and upended it into a dish also containing mercury. Only a portion of the tube emptied (as shown adjacent); 30 inches of the liquid remained. As the mercury emptied, a vacuum was created at the top of the tube. This, the first man-made vacuum, effectively disproved Aristotle’s theory and affirmed the existence of vacuums in nature.

In 1650, Otto von Guericke, stimulated by the work Galileo and Torricelli, to further disprove Aristotle's supposition that nature abhors a vacuum, constructs the world’s first-ever vacuum pump and uses it to unite the Magdeburg Hemispheres. In doing so, von Guericke shows that in a vacuum sound cannot travel, candles could not burn, and animals could not live.

In 1656, Robert Boyle, having learned of von Guericke’s vacuum pump designs, works in coordination with Robert Hooke to build an air pump. Using this pump, Boyle and Hooke notice that vessels filled with air become warmer as their internal pressure is increased. In time, the ideal gas law is formulated.

In 1679, Denis Papin, an associate of Boyle's, uses the pressure-temperature correlation to build a bone digester, which is a closed vessel with a tightly fitting lid that confines steam until a high pressure is generated. Later designs implemented a steam release valve to keep the machine from exploding. By watching the valve rhythmically move up and down, Papin conceived of the idea of a piston and cylinder engine. He did not however follow through with his design.

In 1697, Thomas Savery, using Papin’s designs, builds the world’s first engine. In time, other engines were built as the Newcomen engine and the Watt engine. These early engines, however, were crude and inefficient, converting less than two percent of their input energy into useful work output. This efficiency problem soon began to attract the attention of the leading scientists of the day.

In 1842, Julius Robert von Mayer proposes that energy in a closed system is constant, being neither created or destroyed by internal processes.

in 1843, James Prescott Joule publishes highly detailed results of experiments that supported Mayer's proposal that energy that be neither created or destroyed.

In 1850-65, Rudolf Clausius, situated on the work of Carnot, develops the concept of entropy, or energy lost to dissipation.[1]

In 1871, James Clerk Maxwell, published his famous Theory of Heat, in which he sets forth the fundamentals of thermodynamics clearly and simply enough to be understood by the beginning student.

In 1874, first-year medical student Sigmund Freud began to develop the new science of psychodynamics under the influence of his mentor Ernst von Brucke who had just published Lectures on Physiology supposed that all living organisms are energy-systems governed by the first law of thermodynamics (conservation of energy) and Brucke's associate Hermann von Helmholtz, one of the founders of the first law of thermodynamics.

In 1876, Willard Gibbs, building on the work of Clausius, Carnot and others, publishes “On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances”, which marks the beginning of chemical thermodynamics and which integrates chemical, physical, electrical, and electromagnetic phenomena into a cohesive system, and introduces the phase rule, which forms the basis for modern physical chemistry and thermochemistry.

In 1882, building on the work of Clausius and Gibbs, Hermann von Helmholtz pointed out that the ancient chemistry notion of chemical affinity is not the heat evolved in the formation of a compound but rather it is the largest quantity of work, i.e. free energy, that can be gained when the reaction is carried out in a reversible manner, e.g. electrical work in a reversible cell.

In 1897, Max Planck, published his Treatise on Thermodynamics, in which he rejects earlier views of Helmholtz and Maxwell, i.e. he makes no assumptions regarding the nature of heat, but instead deduces new physical and chemical laws.

In 1923, the influential textbook Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Reactions by Gilbert N. Lewis and Merle Randall led to the replacement of the term “affinity” by the term “free energy” in much of the English-speaking world.

In 1965, mechanical engineers George Hatsopoulos and Joseph Keenan published their famous textbook Principles in General Thermodynamics, in which they showed that the second law of thermodynamics could be stated in terms of the existence of stable equilibrium states.

In 1997, Russian physical chemistGeorgi Gladyshev published his Thermodynamic Theory of the Evolution of Living Beings, the first of its kind to fully-apply Gibbs' 1876 On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances to the phenomena of evolution.

Atomism is a central part of today's relationship between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Ancient thinkers such as Leucippus and Democritus, and later the Epicureans, by advancing atomism, laid the foundations for the later atomic theory. Until experimental proof of atoms was later provided in the 20th century, the atomic theory was driven largely by philosophical considerations and scientific intuition. Consequently, ancient philosophers used atomic theory to reach conclusions that today may be viewed as immature: for example, Democritus gives a vague atomistic description of the soul, namely that it is "built from thin, smooth, and round atoms, similar to those of fire". In natural philosophy, atomism is the theory that all the objects in the universe are composed of very small, indestructible elements - atoms. ... This article is about the philosopher. ... â Democritus (Greek: ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace around 460 BC). ... Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus (c340-c270 BC), founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. ... In chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a theory of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, as opposed to obsolete beliefs that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity. ... Properties For alternative meanings see atom (disambiguation). ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901&#8211;2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900&#8211;1999...

Transition from alchemy to chemistry

The theory of phlogiston arose in the 17th century, late in the period of alchemy. Its replacement by caloric theory in the 18th century is one of the historical markers of the transition from alchemy to chemistry. Phlogiston was supposed to be liberated from combustible substances during burning, and from metals during the process of rusting. The phlogiston theory is a now discredited 17th century hypothesis regarding combustion. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation). ... The caloric theory is an obsolete scientific theory that heat consists of a fluid called caloric that flows from hotter to colder bodies. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Chemistry - the study of interactions of chemical substances with one another and energy based on the structure of atoms, molecules and other kinds of aggregrates Chemistry (from Egyptian kÄme (chem), meaning earth[1]) is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the... A combustion reaction taking place in a igniting match Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames. ... It has been suggested that Properties and uses of metals be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about the type of corrosion. ...

The first substantial experimental challenges to caloric theory arose in Rumford's 1798 work, though his experiments were poorly controlled, and most of the scientific establishment had enough confidence in caloric theory to believe that it could account for the results. More quantitative studies by James Prescott Joule in 1843 onwards provided soundly reproducible phenomena, but still met with scant enthusiasm. William Thomson, for example, was still trying to explain Joule's observations within a caloric framework as late as 1850. The utility and explanatory power of kinetic theory, however, soon started to displace caloric and it was largely obsolete by the end of the 19th century. Benjamin Thompson. ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... James Joule - English physicist James Prescott Joule, FRS (December 24, 1818 â October 11, 1889) was an English physicist, born in Sale, Cheshire. ... Year 1843 (MDCCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... There have been a number of people named William Thomson: William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, usually known as Lord Kelvin, was a 19th century British physicist. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Kinetic theory attempts to explain macroscopic properties of gases, such as pressure, temperature, or volume, by considering their molecular composition and motion. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century &#8212; 19th century &#8212; 20th century &#8212; more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Shortly thereafter, Irish physicist and chemist Robert Boyle had learned of Guericke's designs and in 1656, in coordination with English scientist Robert Hooke, built an air pump. Using this pump, Boyle and Hooke noticed the pressure-temperature-volume correlation. In time, the ideal gas law was formulated. Then, in 1679, based on these concepts, an associate of Boyle's named Denis Papin built a bone digester, which is a closed vessel with a tightly fitting lid that confines steam until a high pressure is generated. Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (25 January 1627 â 30 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor, and early gentleman scientist, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. ... Robert Hooke, FRS (July 18, 1635 â March 3, 1703) was an English polymath who played an important role in the scientific revolution, through both experimental and theoretical work. ... Isotherms of an ideal gas The ideal gas law is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas, first stated by BenoÃ®t Paul Ãmile Clapeyron in 1834. ... Denis Papin Denis Papin (22 August 1647 - c. ...

Hence, prior to 1698 and the invention of the Savery Engine, horses were used to power pulleys, attached to buckets, which lifted water out of flooded salt mines in England. In the years to follow, more variations of steam engines were built, such as the Newcomen Engine, and later the Watt Engine. In time, these early engines would eventually be utilized in place of horses. Thus, each engine began to be associated with a certain amount of "horse power" depending upon how many horses it had replaced! The main problem with these first engines was that they were slow and clumsy, converting less than 2% of the input fuel into useful work. In other words, large quantities of coal (or wood) had to be burned to yield only a small fraction of work output. Hence the need for a new science of engine dynamics was born. Events January 4 - Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. ... // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ... Animation of a schematic Newcomen steam engine. ... The major components of a Watt pumping engine. ... Fuel imports in 2005 Fuel is any material that is capable of releasing energy when its chemical or physical structure is altered. ... In physics, dynamics is the branch of classical mechanics that is concerned with the effects of forces on the motion of objects. ...

The name "thermodynamics," however, did not arrive until some twenty-five years later when, in 1849, the British mathematician and physicist William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) coined the term thermodynamics in a paper on the efficiency of steam engines. In 1850, the famed mathematical physicist Rudolf Clausius originated and defined the term enthalpy H to be the total heat content of the system, stemming from the Greek word enthalpein meaning to warm, and defined the term entropy S to be the heat lost or turned into waste, stemming from the Greek word entrepein meaning to turn. There have been a number of people named William Thomson: William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, usually known as Lord Kelvin, was a 19th century British physicist. ... Rudolf Clausius - physicist and mathematician Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius (January 2, 1822 â August 24, 1888), was a German physicist and mathematician. ...

Lord Kelvin

In association with Clausius, in 1871, a Scottish mathematician and physicist James Clerk Maxwell formulated a new branch of thermodynamics called Statistical Thermodynamics, which functions to analyze large numbers of particles at equilibrium, i.e., systems where no changes are occurring, such that only their average properties as temperature T, pressure P, and volume V become important. Image File history File links Baron_Kelvin. ... Image File history File links Baron_Kelvin. ... James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 â 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. ... In thermodynamics, a thermodynamic system is said to be in thermodynamic equilibrium when it is in thermal equilibrium, mechanical equilibrium, and chemical equilibrium. ...

Soon thereafter, in 1875, the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann formulated a precise connection between entropy S and molecular motion: Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (Vienna, Austrian Empire, February 20, 1844 â Duino near Trieste, September 5, 1906) was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. ...

being defined in terms of the number of possible states [W] such motion could occupy, where k is the Boltzmann's constant. The following year, 1876, was a seminal point in the development of human thought. During this essential period, chemical engineer Willard Gibbs, the first person in America to be awarded a PhD in engineering (Yale), published an obscure 300-page paper titled: On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances, wherein he formulated one grand equality, the Gibbs free energy equation, which gives a measure the amount of "useful work" attainable in reacting systems. The Boltzmann constant (k or kB) is the physical constant relating temperature to energy. ... Josiah Willard Gibbs (February 11, 1839 â April 28, 1903) was an American mathematical physicist who contributed much of the theoretical foundation that led to the development of chemical thermodynamics and was one of the founders of vector analysis. ... In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy is a thermodynamic potential which measures the useful work obtainable from a closed thermodynamic system at a constant temperature and pressure. ...

Building on these foundations, those as Lars Onsager, Erwin Schrodinger, and Ilya Prigogine, and others, functioned to bring these engine "concepts" into the thoroughfare of almost every modern-day branch of science. Lars Onsager (November 27, 1903 â October 5, 1976) was a Norwegian-American physical chemist and theoretical physicist, winner of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. ... Erwin Schrödinger, as depicted on the former Austrian 1000 Schilling bank note. ... Ilya Prigogine (January 25, 1917 â May 28, 2003) was a Belgian physicist and chemist noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility. ...

Kinetic theory

The idea that heat is a form of motion is perhaps an ancient one and is certainly discussed by Francis Bacon in 1620 in his Novum Organum. The first written scientific reflection on the microscopic nature of heat is probably to be found in a work by Mikhail Lomonosov, in which he wrote: For other uses, see Heat (disambiguation) In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is energy transferred from one body or system to another as a result of a difference in temperature. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (22 January 1561 â 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, and essayist, but is best known as a philosophical advocate and defender of the scientific revolution. ... Year 1620 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (ÐÐ¸Ñ Ð°Ð¸ÌÐ» ÐÐ°ÑÐ¸ÌÐ»ÑÐµÐ²Ð¸Ñ ÐÐ¾Ð¼Ð¾Ð½Ð¾ÌÑÐ¾Ð²) (November 19 (November 8, Old Style), 1711 â April 15 (April 4, Old Style), 1765) was a Russian writer and polymath who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. ...

"(..) movement should not be denied based on the fact it is not seen. Who would deny that the leaves of trees move when rustled by a wind, despite it being unobservable from large distances? Just as in this case motion remains hidden due to perspective, it remains hidden in warm bodies due to the extremely small sizes of the moving particles. In both cases, the viewing angle is so small that neither the object nor their movement can be seen."

During the same years, Daniel Bernoulli published his book Hydrodynamics (1738), in which he derived an equation for the pressure of a gas considering the collisions of its atoms with the walls of a container. He proves that this pressure is two thirds the average kinetic energy of tha gas in a unit volume. Bernoulli's ideas, however, made little impact on the dominant caloric culture. Bernoulli made a connection with Gottfried Leibniz's vis viva principle, an early formulation of the principle of conservation of energy, and the two theories became intimately entwined throughout their history. Though Benjamin Thompson suggested that heat was a form of motion as a result of his experiments in 1798, no attempt was made to reconcile theoretical and experimental approaches, and it is unlikely that he was thinking of the vis viva principle. Daniel Bernoulli Daniel Bernoulli (Groningen, February 8, 1700 â Basel, March 17, 1782) was a Dutch-born mathematician who spent much of his life in Basel, Switzerland. ... Events February 4 - Court Jew Joseph Suss Oppenheimer is executed in WÃ¼rttenberg April 15 - Premiere in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... Vis Viva is the principle that the difference between the aggregate work of the accelerating forces of a system and that of the retarding forces is equal to one half the vis viva accumulated or lost in the system while the work is being done. ... Conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant, although it may change forms (for instance, friction turns kinetic energy into thermal energy). ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...

John Herapath later independently formulated a kinetic theory in 1820, but mistakenly associated temperature with momentum rather than vis viva or kinetic energy. His work ultimately failed peer review and was neglected. John James Waterston in 1843 provided a largely accurate account, again independently, but his work received the same reception, failing peer review even from someone as well-disposed to the kinetic principle as Davy. John Herapath (May 30, 1790 - February 24, 1868) was an English physicist who gave a partial account of the kinetic theory of gases in 1820 though it was neglected by the scientific community at the time. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... In classical mechanics, momentum (pl. ... The kinetic energy of an object is the extra energy which it possesses due to its motion. ... Peer review (known as refereeing in some academic fields) is a scholarly process used in the publication of manuscripts and in the awarding of funding for research. ... John James Waterston (1811 - June 18, 1883) was a Scottish physicist, a neglected pioneer of the kinetic theory of gases. ... Year 1843 (MDCCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Further progress in kinetic theory started only in the middle of the XIX century, with the works of Rudolf Clausius, James Clerk Maxwell, and Ludwig Boltzmann. In his 1857 work On the nature of the motion called heat, Clausius for the first time clearly states that heat is the average kinetic energy of molecules. This interested Maxwell, who in 1859 derived the momentum distribution later named after him. Boltzmann subsequently generalized his distribution for the case of gases in external fields. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century &#8212; 19th century &#8212; 20th century &#8212; more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rudolf Clausius - physicist and mathematician Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius (January 2, 1822 â August 24, 1888), was a German physicist and mathematician. ... James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 â 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. ... Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (Vienna, Austrian Empire, February 20, 1844 â Duino near Trieste, September 5, 1906) was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Boltzmann is perhaps the most significant contributor to kinetic theory, as he introduced many of the fundamental concepts in the theory. Besides the Boltzmann distribution mentioned above, he also associated the kinetic energy of particles with their degrees of freedom. The Boltzmann equation for the distribution function of a gas in non-equilibrium states is still the most effective equation for studying transport phenomena in gases and metals. By introducing the concept of thermodynamic probability as the number of microstates corresponding to the current macrostate, he showed that its logarithm is proportional to entropy. In physics, the Boltzmann distribution predicts the distribution function for the fractional number of particles Ni / N occupying a set of states i which each has energy Ei: where is the Boltzmann constant, T is temperature (assumed to be a sharply well-defined quantity), is the degeneracy, or number of... Degrees of freedom is a general term used in explaining dependence on parameters, and implying the possibility of counting the number of those parameters. ... The Boltzmann equation describes the statistical distribution of particles in a fluid. ...

Branches of

The following list gives a rough outline as to when the major branches of thermodynamics came into inception:

The worldâs first ice-calorimeter, used in the winter of 1782-83, by Antoine Lavoisier and Pierre-Simon Laplace, to determine the heat evolved in various chemical changes; calculations which were based on Joseph Blackâs prior discovery of latent heat. ... ass hole ... Phenomenological thermodynamic is a branch of thermodynamics concerned with the study and analysis of actual phenomena with avoidance of full interpretation, explanation, and evaluation of microscopic, i. ... Willard Gibbs - founder of chemical thermodynamics In thermodynamics, chemical thermodynamics is the mathematical study of the interrelation of heat and work with chemical reactions or with a physical change of state within the confines of the laws of thermodynamics. ... Statistical mechanics is the application of statistics, which includes mathematical tools for dealing with large populations, to the field of mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of particles or objects when subjected to a force. ... Equilibrium Thermodynamics (Latin: aequalis = level and libra = weight or balance + Greek: thermos = heat and dynamis = power) is the systematic study of transformations of matter and energy in systems as they approach equilibrium. ... Sigmund Freud - the central founder of psychodynamics Psychodynamics is the application of the principles of thermodynamics to psychology. ... Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is a branch of thermodynamics concerned with studying time-dependent thermodynamic systems, irreversible transformations and open systems. ... Biological thermodynamics (Greek: bios = life and logikos = reason + Greek: thermos = heat and dynamics = power) is the study of energy transformation in the biological sciences. ... In the physical sciences, quantum thermodynamics is the study of heat and work dynamics in quantum systems. ... The worldâs first ice-calorimeter, used in the winter of 1782-83, by Antoine Lavoisier and Pierre-Simon Laplace, to determine the heat evolved in various chemical changes; calculations which were based on Joseph Blackâs prior discovery of latent heat. ... In the natural sciences, thermoeconomics is the physics of economic value. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In the physical sciences, atmospheric thermodynamics is the study of heat and energy transformations in the earthâs atmospheric system. ...

In 1854, William John Macquorn Rankine started to make use in calculation of what he called his thermodynamic function. This has subsequently been shown to be identical to the concept of entropy formulated by Rudolf Clausius in 1865. Clausius used the concept to develop his classic statement of the second law of thermodynamics the same year. 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... William John Macquorn Rankine (July 2, 1820 - December 24, 1872) was a Scottish engineer and physicist. ... Ice melting - classic example of entropy increasing[1] described in 1862 by Rudolf Clausius as an increase in the disgregation of the molecules of the body of ice. ... Rudolf Clausius - physicist and mathematician Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius (January 2, 1822 â August 24, 1888), was a German physicist and mathematician. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... The second law of thermodynamics is an expression of the universal law of increasing entropy. ...

Heat transfer

Main article: Heat transfer

The phenomenon of heat conduction is immediately grasped in everyday life. In 1701, Sir Isaac Newton published his law of cooling. However, in the 17th century, it came to be believed that all materials had an identical conductivity and that differences in sensation arose from their different heat capacities. In thermal physics, heat transfer is the passage of thermal energy from a hot to a cold body. ... Heat conduction or thermal conduction is the spontaneous transfer of thermal energy through matter, from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature, and hence acts to even out temperature differences. ... Events January 18 - Frederick I becomes King of Prussia. ... Sir Isaac Newton FRS (4 January 1643 â 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 â 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist. ... In thermal physics, heat transfer is the passage of thermal energy from a hot to a cold body. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Suggestions that this might not be the case came from the new science of electricity in which it was easily apparent that some materials were good electrical conductors while others were effective insulators. Jan Ingen-Housz in 1785-9 made some of the earliest measurements, as did Benjamin Thompson during the same period. Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... Jan Ingenhousz or Ingen-Housz (December 8, 1730 - September 7, 1799) was a Dutch-born British physiologist, botanist and physicist. ... 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

The fact that warm air rises and the importance of the phenomenon to meteorology was first realised by Edmund Halley in 1686. Sir John Leslie observed that the cooling effect of a stream of air increased with its speed, in 1804. Edmond Halley. ... 1686 (MDCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Sir John Leslie (April 10, 1766 - November 3, 1832) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist best remembered for his research into heat Born in Largo, Fife, Leslie gave the first modern account of capillary action in 1802 and froze water using an air-pump in 1810, the first artificial production... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

James Clerk Maxwell's 1862 insight that both light and radiant heat were forms of electromagnetic wave led to the start of the quantitative analysis of thermal radiation. In 1879, Jožef Stefan observed that the total radiant flux from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature and stated the Stefan-Boltzmann law. The law was derived theoretically by Ludwig Boltzmann in 1884. James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 â 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Electromagnetic radiation is a propagating wave in space with electric and magnetic components. ... A scale for measuring mass A quantitative property is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measured. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Joseph Stefan (Slovene JoÅ¾ef Stefan) (March 24, 1835 â January 7, 1893) was a Slovene physicist, mathematician and poet. ... Luminous flux or luminous power is the measure of the perceived power of light. ... The Stefan-Boltzmann law, also known as Stefans law, states that the total energy radiated per unit surface area of a black body in unit time (known variously as the black-body irradiance, energy flux density, radiant flux, or the emissive power), j*, is directly proportional to the fourth... Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (Vienna, Austrian Empire, February 20, 1844 â Duino near Trieste, September 5, 1906) was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. ... Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Cryogenics

In 1702Guillaume Amontons introduced the concept of absolute zero based on observations of gases. In 1810, Sir John Leslie froze water to ice artificially. The idea of absolute zero was generalised in 1848 by Lord Kelvin. In 1906, Walther Nernst stated the third law of thermodynamics. Events March 8 - William III died; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... Guillaume Amontons (August 31, 1663 - October 11, 1705) was a French instrument inventor and physicist. ... Absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature where nothing could be colder, and no heat energy remains in a substance. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1848 (MDCCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Walther Nernst. ... The third law of thermodynamics (hereinafter Third Law) states that as a system approaches the zero absolute temperature (hereinafter ZAT), all processes cease and the entropy of the system approaches a minimum value. ...

Conservation of energy states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant, although it may change forms (for instance, friction turns kinetic energy into thermal energy). ... Portrait of Monsieur Lavoisier and his Wife, by Jacques-Louis David The history of chemistry may be said to begin with the distinction of chemistry from alchemy by Robert Boyle in his work The Sceptical Chymist (1661). ... Since antiquity, human beings have sought to understand the workings of nature: why unsupported objects drop to the ground, why different materials have different properties, the character of the universe such as the form of the Earth and the behavior of celestial objects such as the Sun and the Moon... A timeline of events related to thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and random processes. ... Thermodynamics (from the Greek Î¸ÎµÏÎ¼Î·, therme, meaning heat and Î´Ï Î½Î±Î¼Î¹Ï, dunamis, meaning power) is a branch of physics that studies the effects of changes in temperature, pressure, and volume on physical systems at the macroscopic scale by analyzing the collective motion of their particles using statistics. ... Heat engines have been known since antiquity but were only made into useful devices at the time of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. ...

References

^ Clausius, R. (1865). The Mechanical Theory of Heat – with its Applications to the Steam Engine and to Physical Properties of Bodies. London: John van Voorst, 1 Paternoster Row. MDCCCLXVII.

Further reading

Cardwell, D.S.L. (1971). From Watt to Clausius: The Rise of Thermodynamics in the Early Industrial Age. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0-435-54150-1.

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